Mario Williams, Steve Slaton and the Houston Texans put on quite a show in their "Monday Night Football" debut. ...more

December 2, 2008

Peyton Manning turned a colossal collapse by Houston into a stunning victory for Indianapolis. ...more

October 6, 2008

The Chiefs haven't drafted a franchise QB in their entire storied history. Next April would be a good time to change that. ... Even without Michael Strahan and Osi Umenyiora, the Giants possess a formidable pass rush. If you don't believe it, ask Carson Palmer when Cincinnati's sore QB emerges from the trainer's room. ... You can see the confidence of QB Trent Edwards growing each week for the 3-0 Bills, who face the Rams and Cardinals before a bye week. ... The Jon Kitna era in Detroit has run its course. ... With each pick thrown by Matt Schaub, and there's been five of 'em through two games, Sage Rosenfels is a little closer to that starting job in Houston. ... A week after frustrating Brett Favre, the Patriots appeared helpless against Chad Pennington. ... No team has a better defensive tandem up front than Tennessee's Albert Haynesworth and Kyle Vanden Bosch. ... Coming into Sunday's matchup at Tampa, Aaron Rodgers of the Packers hasn't been picked off in 99 pass attempts. ... If defense matters, the Eagles and Steelers will still be playing in January. ... A year ago, the Browns threw when they wanted. Now, Derek Anderson is throwing way too often. ...more

September 23, 2008

Rookie Dexter Jackson's 83-yard touchdown on a punt return helped the Bucs to a 16-6 win over the host Houston Texans tonight. ...more

August 28, 2008

Dog-Day Afternoon Falcons QB Michael Vick was indicted and eventually incarcerated for his involvement in a dogfighting ring, pretty much ruining NFC South rival Atlanta's season before it even started. ...more

January 6, 2008

Just as he did a week ago in New Orleans, Bucs coach Jon Gruden took an aggressive approach to his play calling Sunday. Faced with a fourth-and-2 from the Texans' 34 just 4:36 into the game, Gruden decided to go for it. He ran Earnest Graham up the middle, but just as defensive end Mario Williams had done one play earlier, safety Will Demps stopped Graham well short of the first down marker. That allowed the Texans to take possession and 12 plays, 66 yards and 6:19 later, they took a 7-0 lead when Sage Rosenfels hit Andre Johnson with a 4-yard TD pass. ...more

December 10, 2007

The good news is they could stumble Sunday and still not fall. Their lead in the NFC South was and still is that big. Good thing, too, because the Bucs clearly stumbled against the Texans, particularly on defense. ...more

December 10, 2007

Simeon Rice is long gone, yet the sack and the strip remain a defensive staple in Tampa, thanks to the remarkable Greg White. ...more

December 10, 2007

Sunday's Best Bucs defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin joked that defensive end Greg White went from being the best player in the Arena Football League to tops in the NFL, and after another standout performance, he might be onto something. White, a first-year player who was with the Orlando Predators last season, had three sacks, three quarterback hurries and two forced fumbles in Tampa Bay's 28-14 road loss against Houston. ...more

December 10, 2007

This is always Job One for the defense anyway, but it bears an underscore here because of the way the Texans attack. They want to run a balanced offense, primarily to set up play-action passes to Andre Johnson. To keep defenses off balance, they often run out of one-back sets using three and sometimes four receivers spread wide. That forces defenses into nickel and dime packages that are easier to run against. The key for the Bucs is to bottle up the Texans rush while playing in those nickel and dime schemes. With a player like Ronde Barber, that shouldn't be a problem. But the Bucs cannot take Ron Dayne for granted if he's the primary ball carrier today. Dayne has run well in Ahman Green's absence and could be the go-to guy in the red zone. The Bucs have to respect his ability to slow that Texans rush. ...more

December 9, 2007